Depending on the extent of the rehab, you can hold off on the rehab until the unit is vacant and not increase the rent as much (ie wait to pay $50K in rehab for 2 years and not increase the rent $200).

In CA, that also means you're paying an additional $800 franchise tax fee per year.

That means more or less you pay cash the day you buy. 

I will be willing to pay a bit more to know that I can get another piece of filler stock without waiting weeks.But since I dont live in the houses I built and rent, I am looking for the most value.  

I wouldn't add it to the down payment unless it is necessary for cashflow, because the tenants will pay down the mortgage for you.

I’ll pay a monthly agreed upon amount to seller and have one year to pay off the full amount/find a loan.

So far I havent found any deals that would pay investors 6% and leave anything afterwards.

But if you can get to the $70k-$90k range on a SFH (my bread and butter right now) you can generally get a conventional loan on that.You likely need to pay cash upfront though for the better deals. 

Once I have significantly more, I think would go ahead and just pay cash for an investment property or fully fund a flip for an investor. 

I will need to pay my help as we go.